Nigel Pearson claims Anis Mehmeti feels frustrated with his start to life at Bristol City but has tasked him not to put any added pressure on his performances as he awaits his first goal.
The former Wycombe winger, who joined on deadline day as one of the most exciting January deals in the Championship, has yet to show his true potential during his first 10 appearances. There have been glimpses of his ability including his assist against Wigan Athletic in February, but by his own admission, he still has plenty more to offer.
Mehmeti scored nine goals in League One during the first half of the campaign, as his reputation continued to grow in the Football League. A move to a new club and new division midway through the season brings its own challenges such as a change in system and team-mates and Pearson is eager to look at the bigger picture before judging his start to life in City colours.
Mehmeti's eagerness to break his duck reflects in his stats in City colours. Of the regular starters, he already leads the squad for shots per 90 minutes (3.7), ahead of Antoine Semenyo (2.7) and Nahki Wells (2.5). In total, he's had 27 efforts on goal.
"Even if he’s a bit frustrated in some ways, he won’t get that sort of reaction from us," Pearson said. "It’s about him being a young man, he’s got lots of ability, and he’s got scope to improve and he will.
"Patience and time are something you don’t get a lot of in football, especially in my game. When you are investing time in young players who have ability, you’ve got to be prepared for them to be not as consistent as sometimes we would like.
"You’ve got to remember Anis’ back story. He’s very impatient with himself sometimes and of course, that can put added pressure on him. He’ll be fine. He’s a match-winner."
Mehmeti, who made his debut for Albania last month, has endured a difficult journey to get to where he is now. He was part of the Fulham, Tottenham and Norwich academies but faced a series of rejections, ultimately tasked with starting his career again with Woodford Town in the Essex Senior League.
He joined Wycombe in 2020 as part of their 'B' team but his potential was soon realised as Gareth Ainsworth quickly promoted him to their senior set-up where he grasped his opportunity with both hands.
"He just needs to be himself and enjoy his football," Pearson added. "He’s quite an intense young man, already in what has been a short career, he’s experienced rejection.
"He’s fought hard to get back in and created a really positive situation for himself and that is getting a move to an ambitious Championship club in us. He’s got a manager who is patient. It’s about us as staff helping our players to reach their potential."
Mehmeti isn't alone in awaiting his first goal for the club. His strike partner and fellow January deadline day arrival Harry Cornick is also yet to get off the mark.
The former Luton man has been largely reduced to bit-part roles with three league starts to his name and eight substitute appearances, and his start to life in the South West has been a mixed bag having juggled his playing time featuring through the middle and out on the right.
City have only scored more than once in one of their last 10 league matches but Pearson believes the duo's first strike can help kick-start a run of form in front of goal. "The thing for me is, forwards, you want them to score goals because that's how they judge themselves, but providing they're doing what the team needs and what we ask them to do then I'll be relatively happy with that," Pearson said.
"That's the thing, players are asked to do a job for the team and both of them work very, very hard. They both want to score a goal because I think that will settle them down somewhat but there's lots to come from both of them so I don't worry about that too much."
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